Conflict: Yom Kippur War
Combatants: Egyptians/Syrians vs. Israelis
Location: Israel
Outcome: Israeli victory
On October 6th of 1973, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad launched a surprise attack on the nation of Israel then under the leadership of Prime Minister Golda Meir. In the north, the Israelis were forced to fall back until air support and military reserves could be brought to bear. After three days, the Israelis counter-attacked and drove the Syrians back to their own border. In the west, the Egyptians held a bridgehead over the Suez canal and made good use of Soviet-provided anti-tank weapons to destroy Israeli armor. After a massive tank battle on October 14th, the Israelis managed to cut off the Suez road trapping 35,000 Egyptian troops on the east side of the Suez Canal. Cease-fires were in place by October 24th. The Arab forces suffered over 13,000 combat deaths. The Israelis lost about 2,000.
Points of Interest:
The Yom Kippur War is also known as the October War or the War of Ramadan.
To aid their war effort, the United States airlifted over 20,000 tons of material to Israel. The Soviets, for their part, delivered about 15,000 tons to Egypt and Syria.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Rabinovich, Abraham (2004). The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter that Transformed the Middle East. New York: Schocken (Random House).
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